Devotional for friends // Devocional para as amigas

  I am sharing with you this passage today because of what happens every Saturday morning here beside the building I live in. There is this group of people from a certain church to protest or to evangelize the people or better the women who come looking for their service at the weekend. What is this place about? It is a planned parenthood clinic. And the group is protesting about abortion. Ok… I am not against their protest or evangelization. I just think the way it is done is not really welcoming people to the kingdom of God. When the Pharisees tried to test Jesus bringing him a woman caught and adultery (John 8:1 – 11), Jesus asked them “let who is without sin among you be the first throw a stone at her”. So, the stoning didn’t happen, and Jesus said to the woman “Neither I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more”. He wasn’t condoning her behavior, He was giving her a second chance to get her business right. What has been bothering me since...

 (Eu estou cheia do amor de Cristo!) What kind of religious person are you? This kind? (gif) Que tipo de religioso é você? Desse tipo? (imagem) “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in the mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. (…) If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit the orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1: 22 – 24, 26 – 27)   What is James talking about? If he had the New Testament in his hands, I would say he would be talking about Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Because that is what the Law and the Prophets are all about. Jesus taught how to...

Do you know that parable that Jesus told after Peter asked him how many times we are supposed to forgive, and Jesus answered him seventy times seven? There… I bet that every time you read that following passage (Matthew 18:23 – 35) you are appalled by the servant’s behavior. But slow down a little bit, let’s take a look in the mirror. We often feel horrified and think about that we could nev…, couldn’t we? We try to justify our actions and feel good about them even though we know that a little bit of mercy wouldn’t hurt, would it? Because we don’t know why that guy acted the way he did.   But why don’t we know anything else about him? Jesus gave us no detail about the man’s life. I am going to quote here what I’ve read in a book this morning.   “In effect, the parable allows no excuse for such behavior because it does not grant the servant an opportunity to explain it. But that doesn’t mean the unmerciful servant did not have one or two or more...

Peace. The world seeks for peace. It has been this way ever since. Why can’t we achieve peace? Can you say that you live peacefully? Down deep in your mind, you think you can assure me that you have peace, don’t you? Do you really? Or do you always have something in your mind that makes you wake up in the middle of the night or take away your concentration because of that or that?   I know what you mean. It is a person who is jealous of you, or that promotion that seems so hard to achieve, or the debt you lost your hope to pay it. There are so many problems in our lives that it is almost impossible to talk about peace. Peace of mind, peace on the streets, peace in the world. Everything seems so foggy, so hard to see ahead. You worry about your future, your kids’ future, the environment, the climate changes, the racism, the riots, the political battles that never end. Oh, man! Life is hard, isn’t it? You always think, does it have to be this h...

  Quais outras palavras para presunção?  suposição, afronta, suposição, presunção, arrogância, pressuposição, conjectura, insolência, audácia. Presumption 1. the act of presuming 2. bold or insolent behavior or manners 3. a belief or assumption based on reasonable evidence 4. a ground or basis on which to presume To presume: 1. To take for granted as being true in the absence of proof to the contrary 2. To constitute reasonable evidence for assuming; appear to prove 3. To venture without authority or permission; dare: He presumed to invite himself to dinner. 4. To take for granted that something is true or factual; make a supposition. 5. To act presumptuously or take unwarranted advantage of something.   “For rebellion is as the sin of divination,     and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.” 1 Samuel 15:23a   Some other versions say arrogance instead of presumption. But...

We aren’t good enough. The only good one that had ever existed is Jesus. No matter how high you think of yourself, you are not good. You will never be, not by your own strength, power, or volition. The Bible says: for all have sinned (Romans 3:23). All – it means everybody. Not just a group of people, not just one age, but all.   We have been sinners since day one of our lives. Sin presents itself in several forms, shapers, frequency, size. If it is not pride, is arrogance, self-centeredness, prejudice, greed, covetousness, murder, homosexuality, hate, shame, guilt, and so many ways I cannot name them all.   There is only one way we can escape the wrath of God. Jesus said: I am the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the only way.   God is just. He will judge us fairly. He allows good things and bad things to happen to all of us. It is also a part of his judgment. The only way we escape God’s wrath is by the blood. The price of o...

Colossians 3:12 I grew up in Brazil, as many might know it. And I used to read the bible and find so many words that I didn’t understand properly. Only many years later, maybe when in contact with different translations and even in another language like English I came to understand better one of those words. It was long-suffering. What in English it seems pretty straight forward to me. Like something that you will endure through suffering. But in Portuguese, the word doesn’t give us any clue. So, I believe many people just know the word but don’t have any clue about the meaning of it.   Long-suffering in the website, thefreedictionary.com says patiently enduring wrongs or difficulties; patient endurance. That may clarify a little bit. What exactly Paul means when in Colossians 3:12 – 14 says 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;13 Forbearing one anothe...